Week 2: Blogs & Blogging

Learning Objectives

By the end of this week, students will:

• understand the history and origin of blogs
• understand the technical principles behind the way blogs work
• have a firm grasp on blogging terminology
• be able to explain and evaluate the differences between the major blogging platforms

Readings

• Blogs in Plain English, The Common Craft Show (audio + video)
• Weblogs: A History And Perspective, Rebecca Blood
• Hammer, Nail: How Blogging Software Reshaped The Online Community, Rebecca Blood
  
• Anatomy of a Blog (read 2.2 to 2.9)
• Time to check: Are you using the right blogging tool?, Susannah Gardner (also take a look at the companion Blog software comparison chart)
• Choose the Right Blog Tool, Rebecca Blood
• What We’re Doing When We Blog, Meg Hourihan

Case Studies

The following case studies provide examples of ways in which blogs are being used in libraries. Spend some time exploring these case studies, think about what makes them work, and post your thoughts & reactions to your blog.

Things to do this week

• Read the articles and explore the case studies for this week and post your thoughts & comments to your blog. The deadline to get at least one blog post up is 9am, Friday. Remember to check out your classmates' posts too and respond (where appropriate) in the comments.
• Those of you who have not had much exposure to blogs might want to check out Technorati, a blog search engine and general barometer for what's going on in the blogosphere. Use Technorati to find a few blogs and navigate around them, noting some of the differences in features, design, content, style, etc. Also this blog terminology glossary might be helpful.
• Explore some of the blog software options listed in this Wikipedia article. Think about the differences between different blog software tools (user-hosted and developer-hosted) as well as some of the implications of using these tools in a library setting. For example: if you worked in a library that was considering starting a blog, how would you go about evaluating and choosing the right tool? Post your ideas to your blog.
• Start tagging pertinent links in del.icio.us using the "lis9763" tag.